Name: Mammoth

Description: Adults mammoths stood between about 3 and 3.7 meters (10-12 feet) at the shoulder and weighed between 5500 and 7300 kilograms (6-8 tons). Their teeth were comprised of numerous enamel plates. As they were used, these plates were ground into a washboard-like surface. This surface was very effective for grinding up difficult to eat plants like grass.

Reason for being extinct: No one is quite sure why woolly mammoths became extinct. Various suggestions have been made. It could have been due to changes in the climate. When the woolly mammoth lived it was during one of the Ice Ages. The ice gradually melted and the earth got warmer. This change could have affected the woolly mammoth. Man also appeared on the scene. He might have hunted and killed the creature. It is also likely that man moved into the places where mammoths had lived. Man would have used some of their feeding grounds to grow his crops. The woolly mammoths would have been driven out with no where to go.

Fossils??: Mammoths are frequently found as fossils in the Midwestern U.S. Most often isolated teeth are found. Mammoth fossils are most common in areas that were covered by savannas, grasslands, or tundra during the last Ice Age.